Generating and Testing Hypotheses

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Technology 1: Inspiration 9



external image Inspiration.gif


[Image Source:http://www.inspiration.com/inspiration9 ]

  • Rational
    • Inspiration® 9 software application is the ultimate thinking and learning tool for visual mapping, outlining, writing and making presentations. Students can brainstorm ideas, structure their thoughts and visually communicate concepts to strengthen understanding with the Diagram and Map Views.

    • Students can also organize information for papers and reports, take notes, and structure their writing assignments. The idea of Inspiration 9 is to help students work through the development process to visually clarify and structure their thoughts into a cohesive process or presentation. Using concept maps, mind maps and idea maps, students can brainstorm, think, plan, outline, organize and present information.

  • Resources needed by school/Estimated Cost
    • Inspiration 9 Software Package: Educational Pricing is $44.95 per license.



Technology 2: PicoMap on Handheld Devices



external image PicoMap.gif


[Image Source: http://www.goknow.com/Products/PiCoMap/]

  • Rational
    • PiCoMap™ is a mobile device application which allows students to create, share, and explore concept maps on their handheld computer. PiCoMap is a concept-mapping program that enables students to express the connections you see between ideas. The purpose of this software is to engage students and keep them organized. This program allows users to create relationships leading to elaborate concept maps for brainstorming, visual outlining or assessment purposes. Projects can also then be beamed to other students and to the teacher.

  • Resources needed by school/Estimated Cost
    • PicoMap Application:
    • Student PDA’s: the pricing on PDA’s vary by manufacturer and PDA model.

Technology 3: You Are The Historian



external image YouAreHistoreian.gif


[Image Source: http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/index_js2.html ]

  • Rational
    • You are the Historian is an online application that guides students through history to discover what might have really happened during the fall of 1621, the first Thanksgiving. Students explore the differences between history and the past and develop their own ideas about history. This is a fun project for students to engage in and to challenge their current knowledge and open their imagination to develop their own conclusions on past events.

    • One of the main goals of the application is for students to understand how historians use multiple primary sources and educated guesswork to research the past and create history.



Educational Challenge(s)/How One of Technologies Deals with Challenge(s):


Literacy Development:
  • In addition to improving reading skills and comprehension, other strategies for increasing literacy development include helping students to develop higher-order thinking skills that enable comprehension, analysis, and communication skills. All of the technologies above engage students in critical thinking and organization of ideas to generate hypotheses in an organized form. Inspiration, in particular, helps students to visually organize and display their thinking process, helping them to effectively formulate ideas and present information to other students and teachers.